The Retaking of Ichthis V
by The Pretty One
Summary: Colonel Siminov leads his regiment in the fight to retake Ichthis. Will Siminov and his regiment add to their list of battle honours, or will darkness pervail on Ichthis?


The Retaking of Ichthis V  
  
  
The rain was pelting down hard now. It ran off roofs and into shattered basements. It soaked the freshly dug graves with only a simple wooden stake to mark their burial place. It splashed off tanks waiting for their orders, and it soaked infantry in their foxholes and makeshift shelters.   
  
Colonel Siminov, the hundredth and thirty-first commander of the 19th Civenite Regiment, looked forward to ending this war. He would take great pleasure in seeing the head of Chesinite, demagogue of the chaos inspired rebellion, impaled on an iron spike outside Imperial Headquarters.   
  
It would end this miserable war, they would all get medals, and there would be another battle honour added to the regiment's long list of victories. They would have peace for some time, before they were shipped off to another war. And that would make it worthwhile, he was sure.   
  
Siminov was, like all his men, dressed in an urban camouflage scheme. Dark blue, brown, black and grey in the usual Civenite 'splodge' pattern, as it was called. He was of medium height, just over one metre and seventy centimetres tall. His skin had lost the tan it had gained while he'd been on Felopis, a heavily forested world on the other side of the sub sector. His light brown hair was starting to go grey, but he was still as physically fit as a young corporal.   
  
The colonel was in full battle gear, with flak armour and webbing on. The regimental power sword and his bolt pistol hung on his webbing, ready to drawn and used when needed. He was in the tower of a small chapel, looking out at the enemy held territory ahead.   
  
"Well, sir?" Asked his young adjutant, Captain Hezin.   
  
"We can deal with it, so long as our artillery does the job it's supposed to." The colonel said, frowning slightly.   
  
"Well, we can generally count on them, sir. And front command has given us several batteries of heavy artillery as well, sir."   
  
"That they have." Siminov said with a slight nod. He looked out at the enemy for a while more, before saying,  
  
"I've seen enough for today. Let's get back to regimental HQ."   
  
"Yes sir." Captain Hezin said, following his colonel out of the chapel.   
  
  
  
  
  
The Imperial liberation force had been waging war on Ichthis V for the past five months. Eight infantry regiments, three armoured regiments, an artillery regiment and two companies of storm troopers, all under the command of Major General Vozkin-a much decorated and much respected commander-had arrived three months after the rebellion had started.   
  
Ichthis V lies in the Chamakan sector, in the galactic east, at the edge of the astronomican, that guiding light of the Emperor. It is a fairly self-sufficient world, but it does contribute to the Imperium. It provided men and machines for its regiments fighting off world, and it gave the ships of the Imperial Navy supplies and recruits. There was a basilica in the centre of the city, with two massive spires erected in honour of the Emperor. Trading ships came from to Ichthis regularly, and it had been considered by most Imperial Tacticians to be a stable world that would continue to serve the Emperor well, providing a steady bulwark against the dark.   
  
When the chaos cultists had swarmed the principal cities at sunrise, a week after Candlemass, they had taken the authorities completely by surprise. Many of the cultists were well armed, and they were often well trained. There had been a spate of desertions amongst the Planetary Defence Force, and it had been known that there was increased crime; including break-ins at several PDF barracks, each one going for armouries. It had been attributed to off world criminals, and a joint Arbite-PDF-Security Forces operation had been planned to take place in the second month of the year to combat the off world criminals.   
  
At the Governor's Palace in Lyko's Port, the 5th PDF Regiment, having been forced to retreat from their barracks in the outskirts of the city early in the fighting, made their stand. For three days they defied the enemy, fighting room to room for possession of the fortress-palace. Using hidden stockpiles of ammunition, the two thousand or so troops held on long enough for the governor and the rest of the government staff to be evacuated by daring shuttle runs.   
  
They also gave enough time for the Astropaths to send out a message to the Imperium for help. Colonel Borkado, commander of the 5th PDF Regiment, died with his men, fighting to the last despite multiple wounds inflicted upon him by the enemy. As PDF units outside the cities began fighting their way back into their own principal cities, Governor Barwall posthumously awarded him a Hero of Ichthis medal, and it was declared his sacrifice would not be forgotten.   
  
Elsewhere in Lyko's Port, the Arbites Courthouse was put to siege, captured tanks and artillery pieces bombarding the walls of the Courthouse. Wall guns mounted in the armoured battlements had decimated the surrounding area, holding off the cultists until, on the fourth day of the rebellion, a team of cultists had sneaked up to the walls under cover of darkness and planted demolition charges, bringing down a section of the wall, allowing hundreds of cultists to pour through the gap in the defensive fire. It had taken two more days to clear out the Arbiters and Judges from their courthouse as they resisted to the last.   
  
The basilica had fallen on the first day, the cultists driving into the church itself, using civilian vehicles converted to military use by fitting them with heavy weapons. They destroyed pews and shot up the preachers and acolytes about to begin the customary sweeping of the basilica floors. Cardinal Mesipo was captured and horribly tortured, and his corpse was nailed above the smashed doors of the basilica.   
  
The administratum complex had been set alight and still living clerks thrown into the inferno. The merchants quarter was ransacked, and the artisans themselves either killed by the cultists or gone into hiding. The cultist forces rampaged throughout the working classes districts on a spree of murder, looting and rape. Slaves were gathered up by the hundreds and put to work in the ammunition factories, producing the weapons of war for the forces of chaos. Hundreds more citizens were put to work constructing barricades to hold out the loyalist forces.   
  
Upwards of twenty thousand soldiers and civilians died in the first week in Lyko's Port alone, the worldwide death toll rising to nearly one hundred and fifty thousand in that first week. Tens of thousands fled the cities before the cultists sealed off the cities, closing the city granaries to the common populace.   
  
Nearly a million and a half citizens were trapped in Lyko's Port, and nearly a million had died or fled the city, yet the food supplies would barely support them even if the city government had been supplying them with bread made from grain stored in the granaries.   
  
Yet Imperial resolve was not destroyed. Resistance groups formed, some in contact with the loyalists outside the cities, some even with Ichthis Special Forces leading them and supplying them with arms and ammunition.   
  
By the time Imperial forces arrived on Ichthis, they had retook nearly half the cities that had fallen to the cultists. However, in doing so, they had suffered heavy casualties, and they were at about 60% of their pre-rebellion strength. Each and every man in the Ichthis PDF, from the highest general to the lowest trooper, was exhausted, both mentally and physically.   
  
The war would take a while, General Vozkin had said on his arrival to Ichthis.   
  
  
  
  
  
Each company of the 19th Civenite had at least one local to give them direction. All of the guides knew the city well, and each one was armed and knew how to fight properly. Eight months of hell in Lyko's Gate had seen to that.   
  
Eight infantry companies would be the spearhead of the assault. Two and a half thousand experienced Civenite infantrymen, advancing on a three-kilometre front. Behind them would advanced another thirty infantry companies, and ten armoured squadrons, eight and a half thousand infantry and nearly five hundred armour pieces, ready to reinforce the advance if need be. Behind them the artillery batteries moved up, keeping the regiment under their umbrella of protection.   
  
Colonel Siminov advanced with the second wave. If his forces needed that final boost to win the battle, then he would be at that most vital spot, inspiring his men to give that little bit more for victory.   
  
The barrage had cut out just ten minutes before the first squads reached the front line, and despite the heavy bombardment that had raged all through the night, cultists still managed to fight back. At first, just handfuls of them that had to be cleared out from shattered buildings with grenade and bayonet, then platoons worth holding junctions, and then constant running battles as squads of cultists held the line and attempted to counter attack.   
  
Captain Virgil, leading the 27th company, led his company for three hours, breaking through a dozen lines of resistance, and advancing nearly six miles, his company eliminating nearly six thousand cultists, before his leg was blown off by a mine. The company moved onwards, Lieutenant Gobvar leading the company onwards.   
  
Captain Elgin of the 5th company led his men well, up until his skull was emptied of his brain by a sniper's round. Lieutenant Felbin took command, but he too soon lost his life as he led the charge across a street to capture a manufactorum, a heavy bolter cutting down him and half a dozen other men.   
  
Despite the high casualty rate, the Civenites managed to advance further and further. Soon their companies were pushing through the burnt down merchants quarter, eliminating resistance every step of the way. By this time, four other infantry companies had had to be placed alongside the original four, so heavy were their casualties. Word was that the rear line hospitals were over filling with wounded, and they were running out of bandages and clean instruments.   
  
The first squads were in sight of the basilica, and even with one spire toppled by the Imperial barrage the sight of it lifted the hearts of those who could see it across Dimitrov's Square, a centuries dead Hero of Ichthis, lined with many statues dedicated to Heroes of Ichthis.   
  
That was when the first tanks appeared. Lieutenant Gobvar managed to vox this information back to Siminov moments before he, three guardsmen and the statue of Gevin the Pure, were all blown apart by a high explosive shell from a rebel Leman Russ.   
  
Within minutes, an armoured squadron and two infantry companies, led by Colonel Siminov himself, was advancing up to Dimitrov's Square, all expecting to meet fierce resistance.   
  
The reinforcements were pinned down for fifteen minutes, before Lieutenant Jesin drove his troop of tanks round through a series of hab-blocks, losing one tank stuck in the ruins, leaving the crew to try and get the vehicle out. Jesin's tank stormed out of a wall, its battlecannon firing seconds later, destroying an enemy Russ. Seconds later, the three remaining tanks of the troop burst through the buildings, battlecannons firing.   
  
The infantry cheered at the sight of this destruction, and Siminov seized the moment, yelling out,  
  
"Forward! For the glory of Civen and the Emperor!" Without waiting to see what effect his words would have, Siminov drew his sword and pistol and began to jog toward the enemy lines. Behind him, he heard the characteristic sound of hundreds of booted feet, and a massed yell of defiance against the enemy.   
  
By the time Siminov reached the other side of the square, he was breathing hard, but he barely had time to think about that before a cultist appeared before him. Activating the power field around his sword, Siminov lopped off the cultist's arm at the elbow, blood spraying from the wound. Even as the cultist began screaming, Siminov fired his bolt pistol into his chest, blowing the man backwards, blood spraying from his wounds.   
  
All around, cultists were being shot, blown up by grenades and bayoneted. The tanks of No. 3 Squadron had eliminated their opposite numbers, and the infantry were brutally massacring the cultist forces, which had been badly shocked by the arrival of Lieutenant Jesin and his tank troop.   
  
"Who's in command of 27th company?" Siminov inquired over the vox-link. After a minute or two, a voice replied,  
  
"Me, sir. Lieutenant Devis."   
  
"Lieutenant Devis, take your company and secure the basilica. You've done well today, you all have."   
  
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir!" Siminov cut off the vox link and began to move his men onward.   
  
  
  
  
  
Sometime past midday, the Governor's Palace was under siege for the second time in eight months. The entirety of the 19th Civenite Regiment was laying siege to it. Field mortars blew holes in the palace, tanks fired at strong points, basilisks destroyed great swathes of the building, and snipers shot at cultist leaders.   
  
Siminov had heard that the 2nd Ichthis Guards regiment-a Guard regiment that had been serving nearby until the rebellion had occurred-was laying siege to the Arbites Courthouse. He didn't know of their rate of progress, or of the resistance they were facing. But his concerns focused on his regiment.   
  
Nearby, a basilisk thundered. Trucks driven by daring Administratum drivers had delivered crates of ammunition, which was being distributed even now. Soon they would be ready to advance.   
  
A call came up over the vox-link. The east wing of the palace had collapsed, and the cultists in the area seemed to be in disarray. Wasting no time, Siminov ordered four of his companies in the area to advance.   
  
Could this be the final phase of the war? Siminov prayed it was.   
  
  
  
  
  
The flamethrower-wielding trooper stuck the nozzle of his weapon through the door and fired. Inside could be heard screams. Then a pair of frag grenades were thrown in the room, and after they had detonated, two guardsmen jumped in the room and shot up anything still standing.   
  
Siminov ran past that isolated pocket of resistance, heading toward the double doors that led to the governor's office. From there Chesinite and his bodyguards were making their final stand. A Civenite guardsman had sneaked up to the doors, and had planted several krak charges to the barred doors. When Siminov and his two squads of reinforcements had arrived, the guardsman activated the timer and ran away from the door.   
  
Five seconds later, ten krak rounds blew the door to matchwood, and a scream could be heard on the other side. Siminov was up in a moment, thirty guardsmen on his heels. Inside the spacious office, there were over a dozen huge bodyguards, each one armed with either a lasgun or autogun. However, behind the governor's desk, armed with a power axe and a las pistol-  
  
"Chesinite!" Siminov yelled as he ran forwards. Chesinite's bodyguards opened fire, taking down half a dozen guardsmen. Siminov was not hit once, and later he would thank the Emperor for that.   
  
Three bodyguards went down from fire from the Civenites. As the guardsmen reached bayonet range with the bodyguards, Siminov leapt over the governor's desk, his pistol barking in his hand.   
  
His first shot glanced Chesinite's brow, and the second severed his right hand at the wrist, and the chaos leader lost his pistol in the process. Chesinite screamed in pain and frustration, swinging his axe round to chop into the Civenite Colonel's legs. But Siminov's sword intercepted the blow, and he managed to force back his opponent's weapon, gouging out a chunk of flesh from Chesinite's chest.   
  
As the chaos leader stumbled backwards, Siminov leapt off the desk, his sword swing round again, this time slicing open the bottom of his gut. As Chesinite screamed in pain, he brought round his axe in an unavoidable arc.   
  
Siminov screamed in pain as the axe cut through his scalp, and the colonel felt blood stream down his forehead. Knowing he had to end this soon, Siminov brought his sword round in an arc that connected with the demagogue's neck.   
  
Chesinite's body fell to the floor, no longer alive. His head stopped rolling three metres away from his body. Siminov turned from the body and, seeing all the bodyguards' dead, raised his bloody power sword in salute to the twenty or so men who were left.   
  
"Victory." He said simply, before calling for a medic.   
  
  
  
  
  
Two weeks later, there was a great ceremony in the basilica. Cardinal Mesipo was finally put to rest, and victory declared by Major General Vozkin. The body of Colonel Borkado was interred in the great crypt beneath the basilica that had survived almost unscathed.   
  
The service was broadcast planet wide, for the good of public morale. In the middle of the ceremony-which was being watched by the million or so survivors of the city on giant vid-screens-Colonel Siminov, escorted by an honour guard of fifty Civenites, including the regimental standard bearer, marched up to the front of the basilica.   
  
There he was awarded the Hero of Ichthis medal, the first offworlder in nearly a hundred years to have gained it. His head wound was still bandaged, and the medal was just one of many upon his chest.   
  
The last image of him on the vid-screens was of him saluting the governor, the ministorum man conducting the ceremony, and Major General Vozkin, and then marching off. 


End file.
